Latest pick of cool emerging artist in our ongoing collaboration with Sonicbids.

By Fred Mills

The BLURT staff put our heads (and ears) together and we have the latest pick for our Blurt/Sonicbids "Best Kept Secret": it's The Glimmer, from Newtown, in New South Wales, Australia. This makes our 18^th BKS selection since commencing the program of spotlighting new and under-the-radar artists back in 2008.

The group is described in its bio thusly: "The Glimmer is a 4-piece rock 'n' roll outfit from Newtown, NSW, influenced mainly by the raucous rock & roll bands and sassy girl groups of the 1960s. With a sound that's grittier than Best Coast but prettier than The Dead Weather, ‘The Glimmer are the very model of a certain inner-west indie band. Bluesy, some frayed country around the edges, and for some flavour, add some surf guitar buzz and up-to-four-part boy/girl harmonies. Goes with the requisite rumble and swagger.'"

Pistols at Dawn by TheGlimmer

The Start A Fire album was released this past June. It was cut with Andrew Beck (Amiel, Modular Lounge) and the legendary Kramer (of Bongwater, Galaxie 500, Low, etc. fame) in Australia, and Kramer subsequently mixed it at his studio in Florida. The press immediately latched onto the guy-girl vocal mix, not to mention the deep, primal twang that reverberates through all the songs. And with a pure pop vibe at its core, the group clearly hearkens back to the mid-‘80s Australian golden age of alternative rock, but there's also a distinctive postmodern aesthetic at play too.

The Glimmer: Cassady, on guitar/vocals; Dereck, guitar/vocals; Nikki, bass/vocals; Jules, drums/vocals.

We'll have an interview with the band posted to the site shortly in which we let them fill you in on all this and more. Meanwhile, check out their official website or Facebook page for additional details as well as song samples. They're one of the good ‘uns, trust us.

***

Bands, go to www.sonicbids.com/blurtonline to submit and have us review your materials for feature consideration.

>Our November ‘08 Best Kept Secret: The Handcuffs, from Chicago.

>Our December Best Kept Secret: Black Swan Green, from Brooklyn

>Our January 2009 Best Kept Secret: stephaniesI­d, from Asheville

>Our March Best Kept Secret: Polly Mackey & the Pleasure Principle, from England

>Our June Best Kept Secret: Wiretree, from Austin

>Our August Best Kept Secret: Bulletproof Vests, from Memphis

>Our November Best Kept Secret: The Vivs, from Boston

>Our January 2010 Best Kept Secret: The Public Good, from D.C.

>Our February Best Kept Secret: Dirty Dancing, from Austin

>Our April Best Kept Secret: Jenny Dee & the Deelinquents, from Boston

>Our June Best Kept Secret: The Rebel Set, from Phoenix

 >Our August Best Kept Secret: Alice Austin, from Los Angeles

>Our October 2010 Best Kept Secret: Doug McCurry, from Charlotte

>Our January 2011 Best Kept Secret: Drunken Prayer, from Portland

>Our April 2011 Best Kept Secret: Preachers Son, from Dublin, Ireland

>Our June 2011 Best Kept Secret: Butter, from Durham, NC

>Our August 2011 Best Kept Secret: Dark Circles, from Nashville, TN

We sent shutterbug Tony Landa down to Florida last weekend, Nov. 11 and 12, for some R&R and to also work on his tan. Somehow he found time to shoot the big Orlando Calling Festival, and herewith we present the goods. Also, go here on the BLURT site to read contributing editor Lee Zimmerman's report on the event.

All photos by Tony Landa

DAY 1:

(above & below) The Pixies 11-12

Gogol Bordello 11-12

The Raconteurs 11-12

Lucero 11-12

Civil Twilight 11-12

Drive-By Truckers 11-12

The Avett Brothers 11-12

Gavin Degraw 11-12

Pete Yorn 11-12

Parachute 11-12

Iron & Wine 11-12

Kid Cudi 11-12

Felice Brothers 11-12

The Roots 11-12

-------------------------------------------------------------

DAY 2:

Kid Rock 11-13

Michelle Branch 11-13

Buddy Guy 11-13

Blake Shelton 11-13

Doobie Brothers 11-13

Brandi Carlile 11-13

Justin Townes Earle 11-13

Amanda Shires (w/Justin Townes Earle) 11-13

Ben Sollee 11-13

Chris Isaak 11-13

The Flatlanders 11-13

Robert Randolph 11-13

The Supervillains 11-13

Dwight Yoakam 11-13

Into the valley of the Parastrophics..

By Blurt Staff

Germany's Mouse On Mars - Jan St. Werner and Andi Toma - are set to drop their first studio album in six years. After nine records released on labels such as Domino, Thrill Jockey, Ipecac and Rough Trade, Mouse on Mars have now found a home on one of today's most prolific electronic music labels: Monkeytown. After Siriusmo's Mosaik, Modeselektor's Monkeytown, and eLan's Next 2 Last, Mouse on Mars will release their 10th album, Parastrophics on February 28. Two years ago the band relocated their studio to Monkeytown's homebase of Berlin where Parastrophics was recorded and mixed.

It's billed as an "album with singing bass drums, screwed up beats, tinnitus synths and some of the deepest bass the universe has to offer, Parastrophics is a thriving vision of the other side of experimental music. Discordance turns into pop as Alice in Wonderland bounces her booty to laser bass sounds, the likes of which would make Walt Disney jealously ponder the question, ‘Why didn't I think of that?!' Parastrophics is glamorous, funky and deep. No speakers exist that could display all the details of such grand production."

Whoah! Anyhow, if anyone can pull off "glamorous, funky and deep," it's MOM. We have the record shelf of import records and limited edition 12" singles to prove it...

Toma and St. Werner have been more than busy in the intervening years since the release of their last studio album as a duo, Varcharz (2006). They collaborated with The Fall's Mark E. Smith as Von Südenfed and released Tromatic Reflexxions on Domino. Both Toma and St. Werner produce independently for their Sonig label. St. Werner has worked on solo records under several monikers, written pieces for classical instrumentation and electronics, did music for installations, and acted as the artistic director of the Amsterdam Institute for Electronic Music, steim. Toma has also produced Moondog, Stereolab, Junior Boys and The Fall.

One of their most recent projects, Paeanumnion, has been as unique as the rest of their career - an orchestral piece which didn't play by any of the rules. As Jan Werner said, "it was a way for us to carry on being an electronic band, only without electronics." As always, he's not being entirely serious. Both Jan and Andi were on stage throughout this hour-long voyage, playing their own digitally-crafted sounds and processing the orchestra at the same time.

Mouse on Mars have also developed their own musical software which they used in the production of Parastrophics as well as in the their live performances of Paeanumnion.

So-called "gay icon" decides that she has license to use whatever lingo creeps into her little brain, offensive or no. See footage of the incident, plus a cover of U2's "The Fly," below.

By Fred Mills

According to a report published late yesterday at Rolling Stone, Courtney Love "went off on a rant" Sunday night at a Hole concert. The band was performing at Brazil's SWU Festival when a fan in the crowd hoisted a photo of Kurt Cobain, prompting Love to shout, "I don't need to see a picture of Kurt, asshole, and I'm going to have you fucking removed if you keep throwing that up. I'm not Kurt - I have to live with his shit, his ghost, his kid every day. Throwing that up is stupid and rude and I'll beat the fuck out of you if you do it again. Go see the fucking Foo Fighters and do that shit."

Love then left the stage, returning a short time later to lead the crowd in chanting, "The Foo Fighters are gay."

Among Love's other bon mots at the show: she insisted it's okay to use the word "fags" because she is a "gay icon."

Nice work, Courtney. You should get together with filmmaker Brett Ratner and turn this into a cabaret act.

Neutral Milk Hotel mainman will be on the road in the US during Jan. and Feb.

Jeff Mangum has announced a new leg of US tour dates as well as European dates and the newly rescheduled All Tomorrow's Parties festival in Minehead, UK he is curating this March. A portion of the proceeds for these shows will benefit Children of the Blue Sky, which aims to place orphaned Mongolian children with foster families. Jeff's show at the Brooklyn Academy of Music will be his last New York area tour date for the foreseeable future.




TOUR DATES:

Jan 18 New Haven, CT Shubert Theater On Sale on Fri, 11/11 at 10am EST
Jan 20 Brooklyn, NY Gilman Opera House at Brooklyn Academy of Music On Sale on Fri, 11/11 at 10am EST
Jan 25 Philadelphia, PA Irvine Auditorium at University of Pennsylvania On Sale on Fri, 11/11 at 12pm EST
Jan 27 Washington, DC Lincoln Theatre On Sale on Fri, 11/11 at 12pm EST
Jan 30 Chapel Hill, NC Memorial Hall at University of North Carolina On Sale on Fri, 11/11 at 12pm EST
Feb 01 Atlanta, GA Variety Playhouse On Sale on Fri, 11/11 at 12pm EST
Feb 04 Minneapolis, MN Pantages Theatre On Sale on Fri, 11/11 at 12pm CST
Feb 06 Chicago, IL Athenaeum Theater On Sale on Fri, 11/11 at 12pm CST
Feb 07 Chicago, IL Athenaeum Theater On Sale on Fri, 11/11 at 12pm CST
Feb 08 Milwaukee, WI Pabst Theater On Sale on Fri, 11/11 at 12pm CST
Feb 10 Athens, GA 40 Watt Club On Sale on Fri, 11/11 at 12pm EST
Feb 11 Athens, GA 40 Watt Club On Sale on Fri, 11/11 at 12pm EST
Mar 07 Dublin, IRE Vicar Street (Rescheduled Date) SOLD OUT
Mar 09 - Mar 11 Minehead, UK All Tomorrow's Parties Curated By Jeff Mangum (Rescheduled Dates)
Mar 13 London, UK Union Chapel (Rescheduled Date) SOLD OUT
Mar 14 London, UK Union Chapel (Rescheduled Date) SOLD OUT

"The Indian in the cupboard/ There's a monster at the end of this book/ Goodnight moon..."

By Fred Mills

Jim Morrison's rotting corpse was exhumed for one last encore the other night (11-11-11, appropriately enough) in order to perform "Reading Rainbow" theme on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. Accompanied by his Doors bandmates - who, oddly, look like they haven't aged since they appeared on the Ed Sullivan show all those years ago - the Lizard King strutted his leather pants-clad stuff and was in fine form. Listen to his adroit interpolation of Goodnight Moon.

Incidentally, if you thought Jimmy Fallon's impressions of Neil Young were spot on, you ain't seen nothing yet.

Reissues, concerts, film screenings and more...

By Blurt Staff

This month, New Zealand's Flying Nun Records celebrate their 30th Anniversary. To coincide with the celebration, the iconic label will be releasing a number of retrospective compilations and new albums, as well as organizing over 30 shows throughout the country. The anniversary shows feature both past and present Flying Nun acts, along with some very special guests paying tribute. Special events are also happening in the US, UK, and Australia.

NEW YORK CITY CELEBRATES:

*November 15th at CakeShop: Collaborations, Reinterpretations, and Experiments in Celebration of Flying Nun's 30^th. Performing will be The Jewish, Regal Degal, The Mad Scene, Joe Blossom, Liam Finn, Bob Bannister, Gemma Gracewood, plus DJs Mac Hodge and Mike Wolf

 *Screenings: There will also be screenings of the following films during November in NYC:

-Chris Knox Retrospective

-Flying Nun Video Comp

-The Flying Nun documentary

Fans can check the Flying Nun website for updates.

 Meanwhile, below is a listing of some forthcoming titles from the label. And you can listen to the Tally Ho! Flying Nun's Greatest Bits compilation in its entirety on The New Zealand Herald's website .

 Out in the US on November 22, 2011:

*The Bats - Free All The Monsters

New album!

*The Bats - Daddy's Highway

Their debut album re-issued on 12" LP 

*The 3Ds - Hellzapoppin

Their debut album on 12" LP 

Out in the US early 2012:

*Various Artists - Time To Go Compilation: Psychedelic Moment 1981-1986 

Compiled by Bruce Russell (The Dead C) this explores the roots and early history of the label in the South Island of New Zealand, where a particular form of psychedlia was being made.  Out November 14th in NZ and Aus, and early 2012 in US.

*Various Artists - Tally Ho! Flying Nun's Greatest Bits

Essentially a "Best of" celebrating 30 years of the label, this double CD comes with artwork commissioned from Henrietta Harris, and Auckland based illustrator and artist. Out November 21st  in NZ and Aus, and early 2012 in US.

*High Dependency Unit - Metamathics (CD and LP)

The last album from Dunedin's post-rock noiseters who are reforming for shows in November for the 30th Anniversary.

*The Clean - Vehicle, Compilation, Odditties CD and cassettes

*The Shocking Pinks - Dance, the Dance Electric

The debut and hard to find album from The Shocking Pinks on CD and LP with three bonus, never heard before tracks.

PERFORMANCES HAPPENING THROUGHOUT NEW ZEALAND:

THE CLEAN w/ THE SUBLIMINALS

Thu 24 Nov: AUCKLAND, KINGS ARMS with SURF FRIENDS

Fri 25 Nov: WELLINGTON, SFBH with SURF FRIENDS

Sat 26 Nov: CHRISTCHURCH, DUX LIVE with T54

Sun 27 Nov: DUNEDIN, SAMMYS

HDU

Fri 18 Nov: DUNEDIN, SAMMYS with DEAD C

Sat 19 Nov: CHRISTCHURCH, DUX LIVE with DELANEY DAVIDSON

THE BATS ‘FREE ALL THE MONSTERS' ALBUM RELEASE TOUR

Fri 18 Nov: WELLINGTON, SFBH with DEAR TIME'S WASTE + BIG RIVER CHAIN

Sat 19 Nov: AUCKLAND, KINGS ARMS with DEAR TIME'S WASTE + PREGAME HESHMURY AND HIS FLYING NUNDERTONES (GRAEME HUMPHRIES - ABLE TASMANS)

SHAYNE P. CARTER + GHOST CLUB

Fri 18 Nov: CHRISTCHURCH, DUX LIVE with POPSTRANGERS

Sat 19 Nov: DUNEDIN, SAMMYS with POPSTRANGERS

GHOSTCLUB

Wed 16 Nov: WELLINGTON, SFBH with DIANA ROZZ

Thur 17 Nov: AUCKLAND, KINGS ARMS with SOLID GOLD HELL + EVIL TWINS

FETUS PRODUCTIONS + X FEATURES

Fri 25 Nov: AUCKLAND, KINGS ARMS

A LOW HUM PRESENTS: FLYING NUN RECORDS TRIBUTE NIGHTS:

 

Fri 18 Nov: AUCKLAND, KINGS ARMS

Featuring Shes So Rad, Golden Axe, O'Lovely, Tono and the Finance Company, Deer Park, X Ray Fiends, Cool Cult , Rackets + Evil Twins

Fri 18 Nov: MELBOURNE, THE WORKERS CLUB

Featuring: David Saunders (The 3Ds), Love of Diagrams, Absolute Boys, Betty Airs, Darren Hanlon, Parking Lot Experiments, The Sandpebbles, Sarah Mary Chadwick (Batrider), Teeth & Tongue

Sat 19 Nov: HAMILTON, STATIC BAR

Featuring: Disco Volante, The Shrugs, Imploder (feat Phil Buske from The Datsuns), System Corporation, Noosphere, The Changing Same (Matthew Bannister ex Sneaky Feelings)

Sat 19 Nov: WELLINGTON, SFBH

Featuring The Phoenix Foundation, The Eversons, Glass Vaults, Seth Frightening, The Golden Awesome , Diana Rozz , Blue Onesies + Mount Pleasant 

Thur 24 Nov: BRISBANE, THE BRIDGE CLUB
In Association with Micronations.
Featuring: The Jandals (Flying Nun covers band), The Deadnotes + special guests.

Fri 25 Nov:  CHRISTCHURCH, DUX LIVE

Featuring Delaney Davidson, Planet of Tapes , The Undercurrents, The Dance Asthmatics , Ipswich, Anthesiac + Miniatures.

ELECTION NIGHT PARTY WITH THE SHARPIE CROWS

Sat 26 Nov: WELLINGTON, MIGHTY MIGHTY

NUNVEMBER CLOSING PARTY WITH THE VERLAINES

Wed 30 Nov: WELLINGTON, SFBH

 FLYING NUN 30th ANNIVERSARY TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW FROM: www.undertheradar.co.nz/nunvember  

Tickets to all Dunedin shows also available from Too Tone Records

www.flyingnun.co.nz

Angular punk riffs and funk basslines helped define an aesthetic, and Kennedy was in the thick of it.

By Fred Mills

Sad news in the indie community this week: according to Minneapolis paper City Pages Laura Kennedy, an original member (bassist) for No Wave legends the Bush Tetras, died yesterday (Nov. 14), following a long bout with Hepatitis C. She had been living in Minneapolis for the past 12 years and received a liver transplant in 2008 prior to her death.

The Bush Tetras were a classic downtown NYC band during the late ‘70s and early ‘80s - signature song "Too Many Creeps" was a hit at college radio - and in their time they helped pioneer the whole punk-funk aesthetic that so many people probably take for granted nowadays. In clubs, when a BT song came over the PA, it was an immediate and welcome call to dance yr ass off.

The City Pages report notes that the Tetras got back together in 2009 to perform in Minneapolis along with the Suicide Commandos, Pere Ubu's David Thomas and Skoal Kodiak. It was a fundraiser for Kennedy, whose medical bills were "astronomical." The story also quotes from Kennedy's blog, and it's worth posting here:

"Us New York City kids from the '80s, often transplanted from other cities, other countries, occasionally other planets (take a wild guess who I'm talking about) - we've kicked ass. We've taken names, too - and a good many of us have not only lived to tell, but are rockin' the telling and rollin' the living in a way that's inspirational... We keep going, and going and going. I defy you to tell me that all of us weren't defined by that moment in time that we shared. This has been apparent to me for a while, but more so now that we're a decade into the oughts. We were blessed to come together in this life at a time that defined the End of a Century."

November 10, the Doug Fir Lounge: it's supergroup time!

By Tim Hinely

So you all know about this Wild Flag band. Two-thirds of Sleater-Kinney (Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss) join forces with Helium's Mary Timony and The Minders' keyboardist/vocalist Rebecca Cole and voila! You have a supergroup that no one wants to call a supergroup (lame term, I know).  They had played one (from what I under completely packed) gig at Doug Fir earlier this year, made a splash at SXSW and then recently went on a long tour and here they return.

This was a 2-night event and I went to the 2^nd night and hey, even Carrie, said jokingly, "The second night is always better, huh?" With that these four well-dressed ladies (skirts, tights, blouses, etc.) came out and tore da' roof off the Doug Fir. Janet Weiss struck first, I swear I thought she was gonna pound a hole in those poor drums while Timony and Brownstein worked the equivalent of dueling guitars while smiling slyly at each other and Rebecca on keyboards (and backing vocals, which sound awesome by the way) looks like she's having so much fun back there.

And that's the thing about Wild Flag, it appears that they are all truly having fun and enjoying what they're doing and actually enjoy being in each other's company too.  Gone are the days of having to be the spokeperson(s) for a movement because dammit, they just wanna rock. And they did.  "Romance" sounded awesome as did opener "Electric Band." Other songs drilled the point home as well, like "Short Version" , "Glass Tambourine" and "Something Came Over Me."  It wasn't perfect; that 10-minute psychedelic jam at the end could have been about 5 minutes shorter and someone said they covered a Television tune and if they did, I'm not sure how I missed it (love Television).

They pounded it out for an hour and came for a well-deserved encore of Patti Smith's  "Ask the Angels" with Timony on the floor (what about those nice clothes??!!), Weiss still battering the drums, Cole trying to muster every sound that keyboard of hers makes and Brownstein bending  and twisting the mic stand as if it needed to be destroyed.

Wow.....hype be damned, they delivered and to quote Mark Burgess from the Chameleons UK, a person isn't safe anywhere these days.

Featuring sharp interviews with Ian Hunter and other bandmembers, The Ballad of Mott the Hoople (Start Productions, UK) leaves no stone unturned. Watch the film trailer, below.

By Jud Cost

The early-'70s would have been impossible without the blistering sound of Mott The Hoople to numb the pain of the mass exodus of the Beatles, Doors and Jefferson Airplane. This near-perfect 101-minute documentary leaves no stone unturned in the tale of the band that heavily influenced the Sex Pistols yet-to-come.

Interviews with Mott's mythical frontman Ian Hunter, guitarist Mick Ralphs and drummer Dale "Buffin" Griffin offer "horse's mouth" testimony without over-using talking-head rock critics. "When I first heard Jerry Lee Lewis, I felt like I was reborn. Then I heard Little Richard and, whoa!" says Hunter. Ralphs admits he didn't like pop music until he discovered the raw, bluesy sound of "Green Onions" by Booker T. & the MG's. "Both my parents liked rock 'n' roll, so I learned it from the womb," Griffin recalls.

Even with all that raw talent, Mott wouldn't have happened without the crazed energy of their producer Guy Stevens who began looking for a band to call Mott The Hoople (from a book he'd read) after his release from Wormwood Scrubs prison. When he saw a long-haired band successfully lug a Hammond B3 up two flights of stairs, he knew he'd found his boys.